Breathless
by Yesm777
Summary: Cal and Eli somehow allow themselves to be trapped in a room together...and they have only seventeen hours before they suffocate. Not a slash
1. Mouse Trap

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing involved with the television series "Lie to Me" and I won't pretend to._**

_Author's Note: Goodness, another story... Please tell me if you think it'll be any good. :) By the way, this is not a slash; it's not really my style of writing. I do like to write banter between Cal and Eli. :) Anyway, enjoy!  
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**1. Mouse Trap**

"Oi, Loker, you're with me." Dr. Cal Lightman commanded as he slapped the folder back on the desk and headed out of the analysis room.

"Oh, uh, right!" Eli replied, quickly shoving various papers and things into his shoulder bag and swiftly leaving the room to catch up with Lightman. Torres and Foster stared at the door both men had left through, blinking in surprise to the abrupt action.

"Loker seems so loyal." Ria muttered, shaking her head.

"Well, he does try and avoid contention." Foster sighed as she looked through the list of suspect names. "Plus, he's been in this room for days on cases. It's a good thing he's finally getting out for once."

"I guess that's true." Ria mumbled, flipping through pages for any sort of clue as to which direction they should go next. Both the women sat in silence for a few minutes, inspecting each scrap of paper before them and finding no hints as to where else they should look into.

"This isn't getting us anywhere." Gillian sighed.

"Nope."

"Want to grab a bite to eat?"

"I'd love to."

"Let's leave the men to their work."

Gillian smiled as she grabbed her jacket and purse, Ria close behind. They weren't going to stick around if there was nothing for them to do. Besides, they hadn't eaten since breakfast, being forced to work by Lightman's frightening stare.

"They should be here by the time we get back, right?" Torres inquired as they left the lab, passing a few employees as they headed towards the front doors.

"Yes, then we'll see what they found out."

* * *

"So, all we're going to do is look at security tapes?" Eli questioned, Cal nodded. "Alright, it's not like it's even the same to what I do at The Lightman Group...just sitting in a chair all day, staring at a screen and burning out my eyes..." the young employee muttered, his voice rich with sarcasm. "Usually I'm alone; at least—"

"As much as I love your excessive rambling, Loker...Shut up." Lightman growled as they headed through the front doors of the art gallery.

The Lightman Group had taken a case where a few pieces of valuable art had been stolen. The only reason the team was brought into the situation was because the owner of the gallery suspected the thief, or thieves, to be of his own faculty. Of course, Cal and his team had interrogated each staff member, but had come up with absolutely nothing. Either, there was an amazingly good liar among the employees, or the culprit was not part of the gallery's personnel. Therefore, the suspect list was only getting longer: it could be just about _anyone_. For all Cal knew, Eli could've been the one to have enacted the crime, but that was just absurd.

"Ah, I can see this case is getting to you." Eli chuckled. "Can't stand to be beaten in the lying game, huh Lightman?"

"Seriously, Loker: shut up." Cal grumbled.

"Sorry, got it." Eli said casually, holding up his hands as if in defense. The two of them approached a man dressed in security garb, smoothing their faces into professional expressions.

"And you are...?" asked the man.

"I'm Dr. Lightman; I'm working on the case of the stolen artworks." Cal explained, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking up at the man and looking hardly intimidated by the guard's gruff voice. "I want a look at your security tapes."

"I already told my employer there is nothing on them besides empty hallways; I checked them myself. The thieves must've hacked into our security system." the guard replied, sounding offended by Lightman's lack of belief.

"I'd like to take a look myself." Cal said seriously, cocking his head to the side in an expectant manner. "A lot of our job is visual; we might see something you didn't." The guard looked between Eli and Cal with an angry demeanor about him, both lie deception experts taking it as a reaction to their untrusting behavior.

"Fine." the man snarled, turning on his heel and leading Cal and Eli down a hallway. A few minutes into the journey, they met a group of three more security guards, which struck Cal as peculiar. Why so many? Were they upping security until they caught the thief?

"Hey, Buck, who're they?" one of the men called.

"Some guys investigating the case." Buck answered. Cal and Eli studied the three men for their responses.

Frustration. Fear.

Cal and Eli looked at each other: there was something definitely off. They were just trying to decide whether or not they should escape the situation when they stopped abruptly in front of a door, which was—coincidentally—right across the hallway from the other three guards. The two of them decided to go with this shady situation anyway, but continued to shiftily look at the muscular men.

Buck unlocked the sturdy door with a large ring of unusual keys, clenching his jaw. Eli looked at Cal with a fearful look, but Cal ignored it, staring at his task ahead with determination. If the four guards decided to beat them to bloody pulps, Eli would just have to learn how to fight for himself.

"We're going to need your cell phones so they don't affect the electrical equipment." one guard informed them, holding out his hands. Eli gave his boss a doubtful look, yet Cal took out his phone anyway and placed in the man's hand; Loker had no choice but to follow his example. When the matter was done with, Buck gave them an oddly warm smile and gestured towards the innards of the room.

"Go on in, boys." Buck muttered, holding open the door. Cal entered first, then Eli followed, glancing behind him.

"Woah, this is definitely state of the art..." Eli sighed when he was finally able to concentrate on what was before him. "It's kind of a small room though..."

"The whole room is state of the art technology. If anybody comes in here without using the right electronic key," Buck explained, holding up his uniquely shaped key. "the door will lock and the constant air flow in here will stop. Depending on how many guys end up getting stuck in here, it's possible they'll die of suffocation before morning." Eli cringed at the thought, though Cal remained calm and unresponsive to the disturbing information.

Buck grinned mischievously, as did the other guards behind him.

Cal realized what this meant, a sharp stab of dread embedding itself in his stomach.

"No!" he shouted just as the security room door closed with a _thwump_, trapping Eli and Cal within the sound-proof walls. A small hiss of air conditioning stopped abruptly and both men knew they were in deep trouble.

"Great, I'm going to die with only my boss to look at." Eli sighed. "Torres would've been a much better choice."

"Shut up, you idiot." Cal growled, starting to panic. He glanced around himself to look for any possible way out, or even a safety button for accidents.

There was nothing.

"Honestly, Lightman, we should've seen that coming." Eli sighed. Cal couldn't believe how bloody casual Loker seemed to be about all this. Of course, he was only going by the kid's voice.

"Why don't you shut up and actually—"

"No, talking makes me feel better." Eli said quickly, his voice cracking. Cal looked at the young employee, recognizing the fright in his usually calm eyes.

"Well, help me look for a way out of this ridiculous box." Cal muttered, returning in his knowingly helpless search.

"You know, a healthy man at rest breaths about a quarter of a cubic foot per minute." Eli stated, slowly easing into a desk chair.

"Yeah?" Cal replied absentmindedly as he continued to his inspection of the walls.

"With the two of us, we're breathing half of a cubic foot per minute." Eli said, slouching further in the chair. Cal didn't respond, allowing Eli to continue. "This room is, what...? Eight feet high...maybe eight feet across either way?" Cal continued to stay quiet. "That would be...let's see...sixty-four...five-hundred-twelve cubic feet. That means..." There was silence as Eli tried to mentally solve the mathematic equation.

"We have seventeen hours..." Eli whispered.

* * *

"He still refuses to talk about it to this day!" Torres laughed, Gillian joining in heartily. The two women's laugh died to a chuckle as they approached the front desk.

"Hey, has Dr. Lightman or Loker come back yet?" Gillian asked the secretary, smiling broadly.

"Nope, neither one." the young woman answered, looking thoughtful. "But, they might've slipped past me."

"Oh, okay. Thanks." Foster replied, and she and Ria continued their way deeper into The Lightman Group, looking around eagerly for their colleagues.

"Hm, that's odd." Gillian commented as they saw no sign of the two men. Loker's desk was exactly the way he had left it, as was everything else in the analysis room.

"They should've been back by now..." Ria muttered. "We were gone for a good two hours." She stared at the stack of messy papers and folders on Eli's desk, becoming slightly annoyed at his unfinished work.

"Perhaps it's taking much longer than they thought." Gillian assumed, plopping down into a desk chair and shrugging off her jacket. "I mean, Cal is quite thorough in his work."

"True, true..." Ria sighed. "And Loker's not exactly unaccustomed to practicing patience; he can stay there for days, I'm sure."

"Which is what makes the two such an odd team." Foster chuckled. "They're like polar opposites."

"They _are_ polar opposites." Ria corrected, sweeping a hand through Eli's paperwork. "Lightman may be thorough, but he's _way _impatient." They both chuckled at the thought as Ria continued to glance through the stack of papers on Loker's desk.

"I'll try calling them." Foster concluded, pulling her phone out from her purse. She clicked the speed dial button for Cal's phone and pressed the device to her ear.

"Loker's gonna be here all night..." Ria muttered to herself, moving on to checking the yet-to-be-analyzed videos from lesser cases. She smiled at his misfortune, already thinking up a string of teases for when he came back. He'd be here all night while she was at home, sleeping. How jealous he will be...

"He's not answering." Foster mumbled. "I'll try Loker's phone."

Ria waited as Gillian called her partner, smirking as she proceeded to imagine Eli's envious looks and disheartened sighs. She loved to taunt him, especially since he usually took it so well. To confirm the fact that she didn't hate him, she'd probably bring him coffee in the morning, just so he could get through another one of those Lightman Group days.

"No answer." Foster said thoughtfully, the tone of her voice representing how strange she thought it was. "What are the odds that both of them won't answer their phone? Cal usually answers when I call..."

"Maybe they're some place where they don't get reception." Ria suggested, shrugging at the thought.

"I'll give them another hour, then I will _track. them. down_." Gillian voiced with conviction, but Ria couldn't take it seriously. She laughed quietly at the compassionate woman's attempt at strict behavior.

"Yeah, right. I'm sure they'll be back in at least two hours." she assured her companion. "If there is anything holding them up, it'll probably be that Lightman beat Loker to death and is desperately trying to find someplace to dispose of the body. They can only remain in each other's company for so long, especially when Lightman is in such a bad mood."

"You're probably right." Gillian chuckled. "I worry too much."

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_Author's Note: Oh, thanks for reading. :) What do you think? Do you think I should continue the story? Please, review!_


	2. Scuffles and Scrapes

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing involved with the television series "Lie to Me" and I won't pretend to.**_

_Author's Note: I just realized that typing my disclaimer is now a muscle memory... It kind of made me giggle. Anyway, thanks for the feedback, it's nice to hear peoples thoughts on this new story. I'm not quite sure how long it will be, but I suspect it won't be very lengthy... We'll see. Um...enjoy and remember to review! :D  
_

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**2. Scuffles and Scrapes**

"Quit scrambling around; you'll use up some of our precious oxygen." Eli muttered, still slumped in the office chair and searching through the security footage to pass the time. Even if it was work, he'd rather have something to distract him from the fact that he could very possibly die in the next fourteen hours. A few hours had already sped by and Lightman was continuing to look around for some way of escape. He huffed in frustration and Eli shot him an angry look.

"What did I just say about using up oxygen?" Eli grumbled, the stress affecting his normally cool demeanor.

"It doesn't matter if where going to die sooner or later, does it?" Cal spat. "At least I'm being useful and trying to find a way out of this rubbish."

"I should hope so; you sort of got us here in the first place. I'm tellin' ya: we did this to ourselves. There were hints everywhere to turn back. All that was missing was a frickin' huge, red, blinking sign that read 'danger.'" Eli said bitterly. "They even took our cell phones.... Besides, I _am_ being useful. Should we ever get out, I'll have copies of all the security footage for the day of the robbery."

"If you just sit there, we might never get out." Cal growled.

"If you keeping breathing like you ran a marathon, we'll die before Dr. Foster and Torres find us. We are obviously not going to be able to get out ourselves and, therefore, have to rely on our lovely female colleagues." Eli sighed. "So, I'm just going to look at this and analyze it while I still have enough oxygen for my brain_._"

"Not that there's much of one..." Cal muttered. Eli narrowed his eyes, but returned to his self-appointed chore.

"We never thought to interrogate the security guards, huh?" Eli said quietly as he watched the four men pulling off the robbery on the screen. "Why do we always assume the guards are the people to trust? I mean, Torres used to be part of the security team at the airport, and I really can't trust her." Cal leaned against the wall and slid down it with a defeated countenance.

"If I have to endure spending another _hour _with you, I will strangle you much sooner." Cal threatened.

"You're right; talking uses up oxygen too..." Eli mumbled, his eyes glazing over with thought.

* * *

"You know, Torres, it's been plenty long enough." Gillian sighed, pacing in the analysis room. "Usually security just sends us the footage...but, since they refused to send it, Cal and Loker had to go. At the most, wouldn't Loker just copy the footage onto something and bring it back?"

"I guess so..." Ria muttered, twirling in Eli's swivel chair as she had seen him do hundreds of time. It was strange how he wasn't here and she was already conforming into _his _habits. I guess somebody around the workplace had to be an Eli Loker, or it just wasn't the same. At least, it wasn't for Ria.

"Let me call the gallery and see if they're still there." Gillian mumbled, glancing at a piece of paper with the number and dialing it into her phone.

"Hi, is there a Dr. Lightman at the gallery?" she asked as soon as someone had picked up. Ria waited in silence, hoping to catch the reply of the other person.

"Oh, alright, thank you." Gillian croaked, the color slightly drained out of her face. Slowly, she ended the call, looking at Ria with a concerned expression.

"So...?" Ria inquired, waiting impatiently for the verdict.

"They told me both of them left an hour ago to get back to The Lightman Group." Gillian answered quietly.

"Well, maybe they went to get something to eat. I'm sure they're pretty hungry."

"No, no, Cal would've called me back if he saw he missed my call." Gillian told her, somewhat panicky. "Something must've happened to them."

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe neither of them have checked their phones yet?" Ria grumbled, not willing to except the possibility of danger in her coworkers lives. "They're grown men, Foster. Even if Eli is a bit...wimpy, Dr. Lightman won't give up without a fight."

"Hey, Eli is plenty brave! Remember when that psycho ended up holding Cal hostage? Who thought up the plan?" Gillian argued, her emotions strained with the situation.

"Alright, alright...but that's not the point. I'm pretty sure that neither of them are dying in a ditch somewhere." Ria sighed. "I'm going home: it's already six-thirty." Torres stood from her seat and prepared to leave, but Foster did nothing to stop her.

"Yeah, maybe a good night's rest will help ease my mind. I'm sure they'll be here in the morning." Gillian assured herself, stopping amid her pacing. "I'll just need some ginger tea and some sleep..."

* * *

"Do you think Torres and Foster are looking for us yet?" Eli grumbled, having finished his viewing of the security tapes. He stared at his watch.

"Probably." Cal muttered, looking tired as he sat against the wall. "Foster would suspect something if I didn't call after awhile."

"Hm. Torres would just think I got sidetracked." Eli mumbled, still looking at his watch.

"How much more time do we have?" Cal asked.

"It's wearing down to about eleven hours..." Eli croaked, finally letting his watch drop. "It's nearly eight-thirty." Silence. "Are you sure they didn't forget about us?"

"Pretty damn sure, Loker."

Cal was getting irritated with Eli's childlike behavior, being similar to that of "are we there yet?" Then again, he couldn't blame Loker's nervous habit of rambling in such a situation as this. They only had eleven hours after all, six having flown by in an intimidating quick speed for them. If every six hours were to go by as rapidly, they would be gasping for air and blacking out before they knew what was going on.

"I hope they don't decide to look for us in the morning..." Loker nearly whispered.

"What? Why not?" Lightman queried.

"We'll be dead around seven-thirty in the morning..." Eli responded, heaving a heavy sigh.

"Oi, don't breathe so much; you're using oxygen." Cal mocked, giving his employee a taste of his own annoying medicine. "We're not going to die."

"Right, sorry. I shouldn't be such a Debbie Downer...Or I guess it would really be more of a Donnie Downer, seeing as I'm a guy and all—"

"Don't you ever have anything meaningful to say? You keep muttering rubbish." Cal scolded, his shortened nerves beginning to give way.

"Meaningful? What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Eli said, pulling himself straight in his seat. "Like...touchy-feely, 'how does that make you feel?' sort of stuff?"

"I don't care, as long as it doesn't include the words 'death' and 'hours,' got it?" Cal growled.

"I can't help that I can't stop thinking about how long I have to live. I could be saying so many epic things to people right now for my last hours! But, well...I didn't think up anything for you." Eli confessed. He swiveled in the chair, resorting back to his habits while his thoughts were engaged elsewhere.

"I've got a bit o' a thought for you." Cal said. Eli stopped spinning, pausing in front of his boss to listen better. "I wish you were a mute so I wouldn't have to listen to you rattle on uselessly. Plus, it would save me a _world_ of trouble if you were to shut up for good."

"Don't you ever quit putting everyone else down?" Eli demanded, bristling with anger.

"Why should I? I can't let my employees get full of themselves." Cal replied, clenching his fists as Eli did the same.

"Well, maybe one of these days The Lightman Group employees will go on strike. Then again, you might just start insulting complete strangers for a kick."

"Ha! You think you're so high and mighty, do you? If you don't remember, _I'm _your boss!"

"Argh!"

Both men sprung from their places, tackling each other. Eli finally overpowered his boss and knocked him to the ground with a smug smile.

"How do you like that? Not so tough now, huh?" Eli taunted. Cal plunged from his position on the ground, wrapping his arms around Eli's legs and sending the taller man toppling to the floor. Punches flew from both parties and in seconds the two of them were rolling on the floor, fighting to obtain victory. There were a series of painful yelps and grunts as they continued, not caring that they were coworkers, or about to suffocate in a matter of maybe eleven hours.

With a swift punch from Cal to Eli's face, which cracked the young man's neck in a way he was sure put it out for a good month, Eli finally attempted to catch his boss's hits and stop the fighting.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he huffed, pausing to pinch his bloody nose. Cal stopped, breathing heavily and awaiting the green light to starting pummeling his researcher again. Cal had the upper hand at this point, and Eli was lying on the ground with his chest rising rapidly from the small burst of action. "This situation is making us crazy. We should_ not_ be beating each other up; this is ridiculous. I think the stress is getting to our heads." Cal contemplated the matter, though he did not retreat from his prized position in case Eli was trying to trick him.

"Maybe you're right, Loker. But I've been holding this feeling back for the past six hours and if we're going to die anyway, I might as well get this out of the way, right?" he explained, narrowing his eyes.

"You can have this victory! Just stop punching me to the point of snapping my neck! Geez, this hurts!" Eli exclaimed, rubbing his neck with one hand and pinching his nose with the other. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was truly a pathetic vision. Cal couldn't bring himself to keep thrashing the poor bloke; it was hardly a fair match.

"I prefer more for the battle of wit, which doesn't involve pain and bloody noses." Eli commented as Cal helped him sit up, then went in search of a tissue.

"You asked for it, idiot." Cal grumbled.

"You're right, I did." Loker confessed. "It wasn't very smart of me. Wow, you really got me, huh?" Cal couldn't keep from smiling at Eli's altered voice, due to his gripping onto his bloody nose.

"I tend to do that. Here, take this." Cal offered, handing the young man a tissue. Eli quickly put it to use, then laid his head on the computer desk.

"You don't happen to know any chiropractic techniques to snap my neck back in place, do you? That last punch got me goooood." Eli admitted, continuing to rub the nape of his neck.

"Can't say I have." Cal replied, returning to his seat against the wall. "But that was almost therapeutic. I think we should do that again sometime."

"Wait until I've at least won a few bar fights or somethin'." Eli muttered. "We both know I'm not much of a fighter."

"It's not my fault you're just sittin' here, is it?" Cal pointed out defensively.

"Exactly. That totally proves my point. I'm lazy, not athletic!"

As insanely irritating Eli could be sometimes, he was also admiringly prone to keeping, or recovering, a cool head. If it had been anybody else in here, both men would've kept throwing punches until one was unconscious...or maybe even dead.

"Heh heh...If Foster only saw us now..." Eli chuckled, closing his eyes.

"Don't remind me; she'd probably be so ashamed she even worked with us idiots." Cal laughed in reply, touching a tender hand to the bruises that was developing around his eye. Sure, Eli had lost to him in the battle, but Loker was still a decent fist fighter.

"I am so tired..." Eli muttered, his breathing becoming long and slow.

"Yeah, I'm about to doze off myself..." Cal mumbled, his eyes drooping closed.

It had been a tedious afternoon, and a tougher morning was ahead of them.

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_Author's Note: Hm. I hope you liked that. It was more of a filler chapter...sorry. But, please review!_


	3. Several Realizations

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing involved with the television series "Lie to Me" and I won't pretend to.**_

_Author's Note: Hm, the end of this story is coming closer as Cal and Eli's seventeen hours flutter away... Sorry this chapter took so long! But it's up now! So, enjoy and please review. :)_

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** 3. Several Realizations**

Gillian could _not _sleep. She had tried anything that came to mind: herbal tea, warm milk, even a leftover piece of turkey. Nothing. She was a slave to insomnia and did the only thing she could do: sit and do a crossword.

At two in the morning, her cell phone buzzed loudly on the end table beside her and she quickly snatched it up, hoping it was Cal. Instead:

Emily.

"Hello?" Gillian croaked, clearing her throat soon after.

"Oh! Dr. Foster, um, sorry to call so late." Emily quickly apologized, sounding just as awake as Gillian. "Is, uh...is my dad working late? I mean, I know he's working an important case and all, but he told me he'd be home by midnight at least!" Gillian felt sick to her stomach. Something was wrong. _Terribly_ wrong.

"I don't know, Emily. I can't seem to get a hold of him." she said calmly, trying to keep her panicky tone at bay.

"Well, shouldn't you call Agent Reynolds or something? What if something happened to him?" Emily huffed, obviously very worried. Gillian didn't know how to reply; Emily was a smart teenager, she'd have to say something truly clever to convince the young woman her father was perfectly fine.

"You know, that's a good idea. I'll call him right now." Gillian replied. "Get some sleep, honey. I'll call you in the morning if I find anything." She could hear an impatient sigh on the other end.

"Alright...Just, don't forget!"

"I'll be sure not to." Gillian assured the teen and the two hung up.

Foster exhaled a long, worried breath, bolting out of her chair to dress properly for what was to come. There was going to be a search, she just knew it. First, though, she would check Eli's apartment.

* * *

Cal awoke slowly from his slumber. He gazed around his prison, having hoped his misery was all a dream. Although, finally landing a fist on Loker's face wasn't so bad. Unfortunately, it was all too real and he was still stuck in the cube of a security room. Eli's face was still pressed against the desk, sleeping soundly with a black eye. Cal was certain he had one to match, as well as a split lip and a few other bruises. To add to his long list of misfortunes, time was passing ever so quickly, if not quicker.

"Oi, Loker!" he barked, waking the young researcher. Eli bolted upright, as if he was sleeping on the job.

"What, hm, hey?" he said quickly and causing a smile to spread across Cal's face.

"Why'd you wake me up? I was having such a good dream..." Eli grumbled, looking forlorn.

"About women again?" Cal teased, smirking.

"Why do you always assume my good dreams center around women?" Eli replied, looking offended. "If you must know I was dreaming about a nice salami sandwich, with Swiss cheese and toasted bread..." Loker looked distractedly into the distance, wearing the expression of one half in love and half asleep. "I could really go for one right now."

"Mm, same here. Really, Loker, I'm shocked. I really did expect you to have dreamt something about women, like you usually do." Cal chuckled, wiping his brow; it was sure getting hot in here.

"Well...actually...there was a pretty hott chick across the table from me, but I was more focused on my sandwich." Eli admitted. "I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday." Cal laughed, and then a deep silence followed. Neither of the men looked at each other, as each began to contemplate the meaning of only five more hours of life and what that meant to them. If they had the means to do anything, contact anyone, what would they do?

Cal knew he would've called Emily. He would've told her how much he loved her and instructed her on what she should and shouldn't do in life. He would've said not to throw her life away, but to make the most of it while still being responsible. Maybe he would even call Zoe, though he couldn't quite think of what to say to her. Cal would've wanted to talk to Gillian as well and tell her how much he appreciated her. Perhaps he might've encouraged Torres to continue in her education of human behavior. Cal begun to realize what he had in life and that he didn't fully understand the great value it was all worth. There was more to life than lying, honesty, objects and temporary happiness. It was much more profound than he thought.

Eli wasn't sure of what he would do. He would probably call his parents: his mother would cry; his father would be too shocked to speak... The thought of his corpse and his family having to see him that way made him cringe. It seemed like just yesterday he graduated from college and had a long talk with his father on the treacheries and benefits of the real world. To think that at such a young age he was going to die and give his parents the horrible experience of a child dying before them. As much as his older brother irritated him sometimes, he was saddened that he hadn't developed a more proper relationship with him. When he was a teen in high school, he both admired and despised his older brother; but that was just what brothers did. He decided he would've also apologized to Torres about being such a nuisance sometimes. Of course, she would tease him, despite the situation, and make him smile.

Life looked so different through a future dead man's eyes.

"You think anybody's lookin' for us?" Eli whispered, staring at the ground. Cal took a slow deep breath as he thought about it.

"I'm sure they are, Loker..." he mumbled.

* * *

Gillian rapped on Eli's apartment door. She knew even before her knuckles hit the wood that he wasn't there. She hadn't seen his car anywhere and a free newspaper sat alone on mat before the door. Eli would've picked it up before entering his apartment, even if he was just stopping in for a short while.

He never made it home.

Foster started to panic. Were they murdered in an alleyway? Perhaps there was a car accident in some remote area? Perhaps they were injured and couldn't get help! A million different scenarios flashed through her mind, each ending in a dire finish. Eli was much too young to die and Cal...Well, Cal... She just couldn't imagine him gone from this earth. The angels couldn't take him away just yet; he still had things to do! There was no other way of looking at it:

Cal and Loker were missing.

Gillian fumbled with her phone as she withdrew it from her coat pocket. Emily was right: she needed to call Reynolds.

* * *

Ria had decided to pop into work _way_ earlier than she was prone to. It was five 'o clock in the morning, and she held two coffees in her hands. She felt slightly guilty for having to leave Eli to pull an all-nighter by himself, so she brought him a dose of the caffeinated beverage. Ria knew Eli wouldn't have just abandoned the pile of work to go home and catch some zees: he wasn't a workaholic, but he was responsible enough to know when it was time to work.

Torres pushed open the analysis room door, stopping when she saw Eli's absence. Not only that, but the paper pile was left untouched and the computer was logged off: Loker had never been here.

Could it be he'd gone home after all?

She stepped out to peer around the empty hallways of The Lightman Group, still finding no signs of life. Ria was about to retreat back into the analysis room when she heard the front door open and the loud echo of footsteps. Immediately, she peeked her head back out, seeing Dr. Foster and Agent Reynolds striding tensely down the hallway.

"Dr. Foster?" she called and Gillian shot her a worried look. "What's going on?" Ben and Gillian made their way to Ria, stopping a couple feet short of the young lie detector.

"Lightman and Loker are missing; we're sure of it." Foster explained, looking very troubled by the thought. Beside her, Ben flared his nostrils and clenched his jaw. "Emily called and told me that Lightman never made it home last night..."

"And after knocking on the doors of Eli's irritated neighbors, they all said they hadn't seen him since he left for work yesterday morning." Ben added.

"We've been looking for some clues for a couple of hours, but..." Gillian explained, trailing off as her face filled with fear.

"We haven't found anything." Ben finished with furrowed eyebrows.

"Where have you checked?" Ria asked, gripping tightly to the two cups of coffee. Eli never left, but he never came either.

He disappeared along with Lightman.

"We checked Lightman's, Loker's, here...then we went around to a couple familiar spots they go to and flashed their photos around: nothing. We're just getting back now to rethink the possibilities." Ben replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. Ria stared off into an invisible world, trying to dig deep into her logic and search for answers. The wanted to find their friends and colleagues as soon as possible...

But, they didn't understand how limited in time they were.

* * *

"It's toasty in here." Eli croaked. Both men had lengthened their breaths in an attempt to gather the necessary oxygen their lungs required. The air was getting beyond stale and stuffy: it was hard for them to ignore the evidence of their waning time.

"Even toasty would be better than this..." Cal replied, having already taken off his blazer as he slouched against the wall. Eli had pulled off his sweater to reveal a button-up shirt, and he unbuttoned the top buttons to mimic his boss's current look. Fatigue showed heartily on their guises and heavily in their body language.

"Just for the record, you're a good boss...even though you're completely insane." Eli sighed, barely even twitching.

"Just for the record, you're not half bad of an employee...You do stupid things, but you're not quite as stubborn as Torres." Cal responded, and both smirked at the memory of Ria. Their brains were working very slowly now, yet they had been trapped in the security room for so long, that they were starting to pray for death to come quicker.

"Either someone opens that door in the next second, or I'm going to knock myself out by hitting my head on this table." Eli commented, leaning to the side and setting his head on the computer desk. Lightman was quiet as he stared at the ceiling.

"You know, Loker. I really do respect your honesty." he admitted without shame. Eli's eyes darted to Lightman, the expression of surprise faint on his weary features. A small quiet whispered between them.

"What possessed you to say that?" Eli chuckled after his temporary shock wore away.

"Ah, I suppose Foster's rubbing off on me..." Cal answered with a smirk. He didn't know why he said it either...but with only a couple hours left in their lives, what did it matter? He honestly didn't think they would be found before the...moment. If the team hadn't found the two of them by now, he thought it was a good chance they never would. It wasn't as if they were moving from place to place, or that they were in a completely random spot. They were where they said they would be. Fifteen hours was plenty of time to realize they didn't make it back to the office and check the most logical spots for their current location. Cal's best bet was that the gallery security somehow fooled the team into thinking they were not at the gallery, which would send the group searching anywhere between the office and where he and Eli were now. Even if his thoughts were thus, he wasn't about to tell Loker: let him hope.

Maybe.

"Nobody's going to come, are they?" Eli huffed, sweat beading on his face. His eyes were glazed over with the sad realization, making him look truly pathetic. Lightman didn't answer, not wanting to lie to his employee or encourage the feeling of hopelessness. Eli smirked.

"I can read it straight on your face." he stated. "But...thanks for trying." For once, Loker's eyebrows pulled up in sorrow: something Cal had never seen, nor expected. He was quite taken aback by the motion.

"There's still a possibility we'll be found, even if it's not by Foster and Torres." Cal said, trying to lift Eli's spirits again. The pathetic, heartbreaking look on Loker's face was out of place...it wasn't right.

"I wish I had gotten to call my family." Eli whispered, his face deepening in the cheerless emotion. Lightman stared at Loker, realizing that he thought it unusual for Eli to have any family of some sort. Of course the kid had family! Most everyone had a set of parents, at least. "It would've done some good to see their faces one more time."

"How long has it been since you've seen them?" Cal asked, troubled by Loker's speech. If he hadn't seen Emily for a month, he would've been in an even worse emotional state than he was now. Right, parents and sibling relationships were a different matter: you had to leave the nest at some time. But, still...families were a vital part of human life.

"I haven't seen my parents for two years..." Loker sighed. "and I haven't even called my brother for three." Cal was a bit surprised at Eli's mention of a brother; he never knew his researcher had any siblings and never suspected it. He didn't know what to say to Eli, since the closest thing Cal had to a brother was his best friend Terry...and he had to admit he honestly wasn't sure he ever wanted to see the bloke again. They were just passing through the fourth stage of grief: depression. At this rate, they were sure to reach the stage of acceptance before their seventeen hours finally came to an end.

At least they would take their last, agonizing breath with some peace in their hearts.

* * *

_Author's Note: See, there's this thing called a review button...it's wonderful really. You click on it, and then you leave a little message for the author and it fuels their desire to produce more chapters and make you happy! It's a win-win situation. Plus, you'll feel so good about yourself for reviewing the author's work... It's just down below! Why don't you press it? I dare you...press it. Please? :P Heh, I'd love a review if you could spare one. :)_


	4. The Sand in the Hourglass

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing involved with the television series "Lie to Me" and I won't pretend to._**

_Author's Note: Goodness, this is the last chapter. O.o This story was pretty short: I thought it would be. But, I hope it tickled your interest and entertained your cravings. :) I hope this chapter will also be to your liking...so read on! :D  
_

* * *

**4. The Sand in the Hourglass**

It was seven in the morning. For the past two hours, Torres, Foster and Reynolds had been trying to brainstorm any ideas of where their two colleagues might be. In the last hour, not a single word had past between them as they tapped their pencils on the table.

"Wait...did you check the gallery?" Ria asked. She had ruled it out before, seeing as it was such an obvious place; she had even seen Foster call the place.

"Well, we didn't actually _go_ there. But, you saw me call; they said they had already left." Gillian explained. Reynolds didn't look suspicious of the whole deal at all. There was a silence and stillness over the three.

"What are we waiting for?" Gillian said suddenly, standing up and hurrying out of the room. She was eager to drive to the gallery, thrilled to finally put herself to use after the long two hours. How come they hadn't thought of this before? Was it because they had "ruled out" the suspects from the gallery?

Hopefully, they weren't too late.

* * *

Cal and Eli were taking long, agonizing breaths. The air was thick, but not with oxygen. Their lungs could hardly catch the tiny particles in the air, signifying their nearing end. Eli hadn't bothered glancing at his watch for the last hour or two, since he no longer needed to see the digits to know how much time they had left. They had a very short life ahead of them and were content on appreciating one another's presence in silence. Aside from that, they hardly had enough breath in them to speak a word.

This was their future, this was their final destination.

It was all in pursuit of the truth, which they had found—whether they did so intentionally or stumbled on answers they never took the time to ponder. The minutes ticked by and their thoughts slowed from the lack of oxygen. Cal watched in a daze as Eli's head tilted slowly and the young man's eyelids started to droop. As Eli's breath became slower and slower, Cal knew he was almost gone. The researcher's eyes closed creating the image of a man that was no more than slumbering. Somewhere in Cal's mind, he knew he should be frantic, or perhaps disturbed by watching his own employee passing out for the last time. There was no panic, no worry. He was only living, even if it was only for a few more minutes. A few more minutes that fluttered away as darkness crept into the edges of his sight.

_Goodbye._

* * *

"Where are they?" Gillian demanded of the security guards standing idly in the gallery. Cal's car was still parked outside, so there was no way for them to wriggle out of this one. Ben was behind her, muttering into his phone for backup while Ria stood beside Foster with her arms crossed menacingly.

"We know they're here." Ria interjected, glaring at one of the men looking her up and down.

"Yeah, so? They're looking at security tapes." one man said casually.

"You expect us to believe they've been in there for _that long_?" Gillian hissed.

"No, we don't either. That's why we told you they left." a younger guy explained, all signs of nervousness present on his guise. Liars. Liar, liars, liars!

"I want to see this security room." Ben commanded, now off the phone and free to take hold of this situation. The guards stared at him for a good while, anger flashing across their faces with a hint of fear.

"No."

"What do you mean, 'no?'" Ben queried, furrowing his eyebrows. A hush fell over the group as the guards glanced at each other.

"Argh!" shouted the leading man, throwing himself against Ben. The other three joined in the brawl as Gillian and Ria jumped aside with yelps of surprise. From the bundle of punches, and definite bruising sounds, flew several loose objects, some of which were Cal and Eli's cell phones and a ring of unusual keys. With wheels turning in her head, Ria quickly swept up the keys, running down a narrow hallway in search of the security room. After a moment of shock, Gillian caught onto the idea and ran after her, leaving Ben to wrestle with the four, hostile men.

The two women nearly missed the door in their hurry and almost tripped as they retraced their path back to it. Ria fumbled her way through the ring of labeled keys, finally coming to the security door's match. With her hand shaking from the adrenaline rush, Ria inserted the key into the lock and twisted it. There was a loud beep and she was quick to push the door open.

The ring of keys clattered to the carpeted floor, their temporary master having lost her grip.

Cal leaned against one of the walls, a purple bruise smudging its way around his eye. His head was slightly bowed as to indicate he was unconscious, as did his relaxed body. Eli was slouched in the office chair, also showing off signs of a fight, his cheek pressed against his shoulder and looking no more than asleep. But, there was something very off and both women knew that neither of the men were in a simple slumber.

Both of them knew they weren't breathing.

Gillian rushed to Cal while Ria went straight to Eli, both pressing their fingers against the necks of their colleagues.

Nothing.

"Damn it." Ria hissed as she tugged Eli's body off the chair and onto the floor. Tears slid down Gillian's face as she flattened Cal on the carpeted ground and immediately started into chest compressions. Ria wasn't far behind in the practice and both were desperately trying to bring their partners back from the dead.

"One, two, three..." Gillian counted, her voice gasping with emotion. The atmosphere was tense with hope and dread, clawing at their mixed emotions and pulling on their heartstrings.

They never thought they'd have to do this.

Both continued with their compressions, Gillian crying as Ria gritted her teeth.

There was a cough.

At first the women were confused as to who it was. Each looked to the faces of their companions.

Cal.

Cal's face twisted with discomfort and his lungs began to work to try and catch up from the lack of oxygen. He gulped the air gratefully, experiencing the fresh taste of health.

"Oh, Cal...!" Gillian cried, her hands clapping to her mouth. Behind her, Ria was still trying to pull Eli from the grips of death. She continued with compressions and mouth-to-mouth, cursing and praying under her breath at the same time.

"Come on, Loker." she whispered as she did another set of compressions. Cal pulled himself up to his elbows to observe his protégé in her process. An expression of anguish covered his face as he continued to breathe heavily. Gillian was now watching Ria with fear snagging in her heart. They had one, but could they save the other?

"Come on..." Ria muttered, her eyebrows pulled up in sorrow. Perhaps, she couldn't help her friend and partner. Perhaps he would never—

Eli gasped.

"Holy frickin' crap." he huffed, the spark of Loker firmly placed back into his body. Ria grinned, as did Gillian, in light of the unexpected good luck. Cal closed his eyes and exhaled in relief.

"I have never seen you so still!" Ria laughed, endorphins flooding her system.

"For the love of everything holy, my head friggin' hurts!" he croaked, bringing a palm to his forehead. Cal allowed himself to collapse to the floor again, lying on his back and letting his muscles relax. Like Eli, his head was throbbing and threatening to explode.

"What's going on in here?" Ben wheezed, wearing a split lip and an angry look. No one bothered answer him, as they were still basking in the glory of life and clean, thick oxygen.

"How was being trapped in a room with Loker?" Gillian asked Cal, smiling. He smirked as he stared up at the ceiling.

"I survived..." he replied, then turned his head to look at the panting Eli.

"For more than seventeen hours."

* * *

"You two had a _fight_?" Gillian queried, looking bothered by the fact. The team was now back at The Lightman Group, unwinding in the privacy of Cal's office. Cal and Eli held cold soda cans next to their heads and slouched in their respective seats as they relayed their long seventeen hours of captivity.

"You both are most likely going to suffocate in that room and you throw fists at each other?" Foster asked, appalled.

"We're men, cut us some slack." Eli groaned. "He started it anyway."

"What are you talking about? You're the one that tackled me!" Cal protested, shooting a glare at Loker.

"You were asking for it." Eli grumbled.

"You son of a—!"

"But, enough of that!" Eli said quickly, not allowing Cal to finish his phrase. "We're alive and healthy." The group grunted with agreement, purely exhausted by the events of their rescue and resuscitation.

"Um, well, I have a call to make." Eli announced, wincing as he pushed himself up.

"Who?" Cal inquired, looking up at his employee.

"My older brother." Eli answered simply, slowly making his way out of the room. Gillian, Ria and Ben shot each other looks then stared at Cal.

"He has a brother?"

_**The End.**_

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**Author's Note: Aww...all done! :) Anywho...hoped you liked my little story! :D And, please review; reviews bring joy to my soul. :) Thanks for reading (and supporting)!  
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